


A Spark in the Void

by Brumeier



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, First Meetings, M/M, Pre-Slash, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 05:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13093698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: No matter what universe, Steve and Danny's first meeting is always memorable. (AKA: In space, no-one can hear you argue. LOL!)





	A Spark in the Void

**Author's Note:**

> Written for whatif_au prompt: space

It sounded like a cliché to say that space was vast and endless, but it was true. Danny would know, he watched it from the viewport for fourteen hours every shift. Unrelenting, unforgiving stretches of space dotted with far-distant suns. People used to romanticize space, back in the old days. Back before they lived in it. 

When Danny first got the Watchdog job, he thought he'd been lucky. Grace had been living on Orion for over a year with Rachel and Rachel's rich new husband, and Danny had only been able to see her via vid chats. Watchdog paid pretty good, considering the only thing he had to do was essentially stare out a window all day. The pay was good enough that he'd been able to move to Orion to be close to his daughter. 

He missed Earth, but it was a sacrifice he'd make every time because Grace came first. Just because the choice was easy didn't mean everything else was. 

He frequently got lost in his thoughts out at the Watchpost. There wasn't anything else he could do. Danny wasn't allowed to bring anything of a personal nature to work with him, just his Watchdog comm and his sidearm. The only thing available to distract himself with was the handbook clipped to the wall. 

Danny watched the viewport, watched the feed from the long-range sensors, and tried not to lose his mind. 'If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares into you.' He forgot which famous talking head said that, but the words resonated with him on a deep level. He wondered what it was the abyss would see. 

_Kappa Station, report._

The voice crackled over the comm, startling Danny as it always did. It was so quiet in the Watchpost. The only noises were the hiss of recycled air through the vents and the occasional metallic thunk as small, random bits of space debris came in contact with the hull. 

"Kappa Station is clear. Authorization code niner-niner-alpha-three." 

_Roger that, Kappa Station. Central out._

The check-ins came every two hours, the only thing to break up the monotony. Danny was hoping he could transfer to a more heavily-trafficked post when his first year was up. Maybe Delta or Gamma; those Watchposts were along shipping lanes, where there was actually something to watch. 

The hours stretched on, endless in their own way. In the beginning, Danny had talked to himself a lot. But then he found himself doing it even when he was on the Station and that made him feel a little crazy. Although sometimes not talking for so long made him feel a _lot_ crazy. 

He missed his family. They were all still in New Jersey, where he should've been. It was over-crowded, sure, and the temperature extremes got worse every year, but Earth was home in a way Orion Station never could be. Danny missed feeling the sun on face, and having the wind blow through his hair. He missed playing tag football with his sisters and his brother in the park down the street, the one he took Grace to when she was old enough to go on the swings. 

Danny was sick to death of recycled air and artificial light and eating things made out of soybeans that should've been made out of meat. 

At least his shift was almost over. Two more check-ins and then his replacement would arrive and Danny could go back to the little cubicle that passed for an apartment. He had the next two days off and he planned to spend them with Grace, doing any stupid thing she wanted as long as they did it together. 

Another hour in, and Danny was mentally playing chess with himself. He wasn't a great player, but it hardly mattered under the circumstances. 

_Clang!_

That sounded a whole lot louder than normal, so Danny checked the monitors. There was no change in hull integrity, no indication that anything was awry. Just an anomaly then. 

Until a face was looking back at him through the viewport. 

"Gah!" Danny felt his heart lurch in his chest at the unexpected and wholly unfamiliar face that stared back him. "What the fuck?" 

It was a guy, suited up for a spacewalk and somehow clinging to the side of the Watchpost like some kind of space tick. Danny reached for his comm and the guy actually knocked on the viewport. He mouthed something that looked a whole lot like _let me in_. 

"Who the hell are you?" Danny shouted back, though he knew there was no way the guy would hear him. 

He knew everyone who worked Kappa Watchpost, and this guy wasn't one of them. Besides, if he was he'd have come through the airlock from the shuttle dock, which he clearly hadn't. 

The guy had the audacity to roll his eyes and make a hurry-up motion with his hand. Danny looked at the comm again, but this time made no move towards it. He was just bored enough that letting a stranger into the Watchpost sounded like a good idea. And even if it wasn't, he was armed. 

"Airlock!" he shouted at the viewport. "Go. To. The. Airlock." 

And really, why hadn't the guy gone there first? Maybe his brain had atrophied from too much time spent floating around outside a ship. He gave Danny a thumb's up and moved away from the viewport with additional clanging. Magnets, maybe, or heavy-duty gravity gear. 

Danny heard the outer airlock door open and close, and waited for the knock he knew was coming on the inner door. He pulled his sidearm and made sure it was set to stun. He probably should've been nervous – the guy in the airlock was clearly a headcase – but instead he was buzzing with adrenalin. He missed that. Missed facing down lowlifes and nutjobs, never knowing what was going to happen. 

Every day was the same in Kappa Watchpost. Well, until today. 

The knock came and Danny opened the inner door. His first thought was, _Damn, this guy is hot!_ His second thought was, _Damn, this guy is gonna be trouble_. 

"Thanks for letting me in." The guy had his helmet under his arm, and looked entirely too good in the form-fitting gray spacesuit. "Steve McGarrett. Five-0." 

"Am I supposed to know what that designation means?" Danny countered. "Or is that you're IQ? Because you have to be some kind of stupid to just be floating around out there. Where's your ship?" 

McGarrett raised an eyebrow. "My shuttle broke down. Figured it was quickest just to pop on over here." 

"Instead of radioing for help." 

He just shrugged, like spacewalks were something he did every day. For all Danny knew, they were. 

"Five-0?" 

"Newly formed Orion Station task force." McGarrett set is helmet down in Danny’s chair and started wandering around the close confines of the Watchpost. "Appointed by the Governor." 

He held up his right hand and showed Danny the wristband there. Official government issue, with McGarrett's authorization code and a symbol Danny had only ever seen on the newsfeeds. Immunity and means. Dangerous combo. 

"How do you stand working in here every day? It's like a prison cell." 

Danny holstered his sidearm. "No, it's like a job, which I need to get back to thank you very much. Can't you call for a tow or something?" 

"What's your name?" 

"Danny Williams. Watchdog Sentry 4112014." 

"Well, Danny Williams, I need a ride back to the Station. Let's go." 

Danny just stared at him. Was this guy for real? Was he really trying to jack Danny out of his post? 

"I can't just leave! I'm working!" 

McGarrett made a derisive noise and gestured toward the viewport. "Doing what? Counting stars? Come on, man. I need to get back. I have vital intel for my team." 

"Oh, well. If it's _vital_ intel that's different. And yet...still no." 

"Fine. Give me the code for your ship." 

"Also no. I'm not gonna let you strand me up here. What if there's an emergency?" 

McGarrett leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "Like what? Alien invasion? Rogue asteroid?" 

Danny didn't care for his tone, or his insinuation that the job Danny was doing wasn't important. It didn't matter if he felt that way himself, he was allowed to. 

"How about you call in and report your shuttle breakdown. Orion PD can send a replacement in about twenty minutes, provided they like you and you haven't alienated the Tech Mech, and take your piece of shit back to the impound to get repaired. And I can get back to my day." 

Danny pushed the helmet out of his chair so that it hit the floor with a heavy _plunk_ , and sat back down. What the hell kind of report was he supposed to give when Central contacted him again? Watchpost infiltration by power-hungry government official? 

"You a cop?" McGarrett asked, seemingly unfazed by Danny's dismissal of him. 

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes. When I was still Earthside." 

"Why'd you trade in for this dead-end assignment?" 

Danny turned in his chair to glower at McGarrett. "There's nothing wrong with this job!" 

"You spend how many hours a day staring at empty space? That's not a job. That's a good way to end up in a padded holding cell." 

"Well it was this or never see my daughter, so you can just shut the fuck up about it." 

McGarrett was infuriating! Coming into Danny's post, asking all kinds of invasive questions, making demands. Fuck his immunity and means! And fuck his condescending tone and sharp gaze and pretty mouth. 

Danny spun back to the monitors, flushing. He'd clearly been spending too much time alone if that jackhole was turning him on. 

"How old is she?" McGarrett asked, his voice a little softer. 

Danny wasn't going to answer, just on principle, but found himself talking anyway. Too much time with only himself for company. "Six. She lives in Westband with my ex and her new husband." 

McGarrett whistled. "Westband. Someone's got a lot of money." 

"It sure as hell isn't me." 

Danny wondered where McGarrett lived. Orion PD had dormitory housing for singles, and some family apartments that didn't cost as much as the civvies paid. They were probably bigger than the one Danny lived in, too. 

There was a rustling noise behind him, as if McGarrett were slipping out of his spacesuit – and wasn't that a lovely image? - and then another whistle. 

"Your close rate was excellent. Commendations, steady rise through the ranks. You left a lot behind." 

Danny was out of his chair and snatching the datascreen out of McGarrett's hands before he even had the conscious thought to do so. 

"Oh, no you don't! You don't get to poke around in my life without my permission!" He glanced down at the datascreen, which was displaying his official Trenton PD ID photo. "You can stuff your immunity and means!" 

Danny switched it off and threw it back at McGarrett, who deftly caught it with one hand without even trying. Bastard. Why the hell was he smiling? 

"Must've been fate," McGarrett said. "Me breaking down out here today. You're just the guy I'm looking for." 

"I don't do that with strangers," Danny shot back, mostly just to see how McGarrett would react. He didn't, which was annoying. 

"There's a fourth slot open on the task force. Haven't found the right person to fit the team dynamic." 

"So, what? You think I would?" Danny scoffed at the idea. He'd given up his career in law enforcement. That was part of the past, part of his life on Earth. 

"Yeah, I do." McGarrett moved swiftly into Danny's personal space, but Danny stood his ground, arms crossed. "You've got just the spark we need." 

McGarrett was taller than Danny, and was clearly trying to intimidate him with it. Despite the height kink that he mostly kept under wraps, no-one intimidated Danny Williams. Except maybe Grandma Molinari, but she was terrifying. 

"You can do better than this, Danny. And we could use your help." 

“And you think you can bully me into saying yes? Normal people generally try to entice new employees with a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits.” 

Danny was trying very hard to keep his attention from wandering. He and McGarrett were standing practically toe to toe and that close he was getting a nose full of masculine musk and a head full of dirty ideas. 

"I can guarantee you twice the credits you're getting at this job." McGarrett leaned closer. Kissing close. "We can negotiate benefits." 

In his mind's eye Danny closed the space between them and kissed McGarrett, hard and dirty and with a lot of full-contact grinding. In reality, he gave McGarrett a shove and quickly stepped away from him. Danny was horny, but he wasn't easy. 

"You are a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen," Danny said. He was pleased he could keep his voice steady and not give away how attracted he was. "What are you, some kind of cave man? It's unprofessional." 

McGarrett didn't even have the decency to look repentant. He just smirked at Danny with a gleam in his eye, and Danny had to fight back a groan. Was everything this man did attractive? It was unfair. He was so screwed. 

"Twice the credits? You put that in writing and you've got a deal." 

He couldn't believe he was making such a big decision without thinking it all through carefully first. He didn't know the first thing about McGarrett's task force. All he did know was that he couldn't keep sitting in the Watchpost day after day, staring out at nothing. 

McGarrett's smirk turned into a full-on grin. "You know what, Danny? I think we're gonna get along great." 

"Yeah, sure. Get in the ship while I call Central and tender my resignation." 

McGarrett bent over to scoop up his helmet, giving Danny a nice view of his skinny ass. Even in a spacesuit the guy was sex on a stick. 

"I'll drive," he said as he headed back through the airlock. 

"Oh no you --" Danny was cut off by the door sliding shut. Clearly they'd need to set some ground rules. "Central, this is Kappa Station. Put a rush on the next shift. I quit."

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** 'If thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.' This is a quote from Nietzsche, in case you were interested. ::grins::


End file.
